Title: Personal Care R&E Manager
Work location: Neenah, WI 54956
Shift Timings: 2:30PM - 12AM (OT Required, M-F)
Salary Range: $139,200 - $231,800.
DIRECT HIRE -
The role is eligible for an annual target bonus of 20%.
Position located on-site at WRE Neenah, WI. May work from home infrequently, so the person should expect to be working in the office the majority of the time. Will assist with relocation. May be required to travel 15% of the time. Mostly, traveling to Chicago to meet with the marketing teams.
This is a newly created position within a newly formed team.
Will be responsible for leading a team of product developers - guiding, coaching, as well as challenging the status quo. Also responsible for filling the pipeline of novel ideas, technology driven (materials or technology inspired).
Someone with a science or engineering education related and experienced in fast consumer goods, upstream consumer goods, absorbency products (preferably feminine care). At least 10 years' experience in family care, absorbency products (like paper towels, feminine pads.
The role will have about 10-12 direct reports. Should have a minimum of 3 years managing teams.
Summary Of Position
The Personal Care R&E Senior Manager leads the Adult and Feminine Care Product Discovery Team to deliver a pipeline of consumer-relevant innovation projects. Incumbent reports to Sr. R&E Director and receives direction in the form of general business and department strategies. This role will lead people and process in the filling of the innovation pipeline (ideation), perform feasibility assessments to de-risk pipeline projects and explore ideas and technologies with potential for disrupting the category and fueling KC's future growth. This work is done in partnership and collaboration with our cross functional teams in marketing, regulatory and safety, supply chain, insights and analytics and other research partners. The role will work closely with the team to ensure that priorities, programs, and allocation of resources are aligned and sufficient to achieve goals. He/she facilitates employee development and innovation to accomplish this scope of work and provides protection to technologies and products through appropriate use of patents and trade secrets.
Responsibilities
Lead a diverse team of 12 -18 direct reports to develop and de-risk novel product concepts to deliver unmet customer needs in the Adult and Feminine Care areas. This will culminate in minimal viable Concept, Product and Technologies to deliver said product concepts.
Lead the team, in close partnership with a Technical Strategist, to also explore and discover innovative approaches and/or technologies to deliver category bending consumer propositions in this segment.
Protect and defend K-C proprietary technology and products through appropriate use of patents and trade secrets and effective protection of proprietary information. Challenge competitive intellectual property to ensure right to practice for K-C technologies and products.
Build an assertive, proactive, results-oriented team that is passionate about winning through teamwork and product innovation. Identify and hire top-tier talent; maximize team member effectiveness by providing ongoing coaching and feedback; create opportunities for growth and development.
Provide people leadership to include talent development, performance management, compensation planning and organizational effectiveness.
Lead, coach, and mentor team members to execute product development work and improve business results as measured by Future Portfolio Value.
Develop and manage the budget and resource forecast relating to projects.
Communicate with superiors, subordinates and others who have need to know.
Break down barriers for team members to ensure they can deliver their objectives, and when they are unable to break down the barriers, escalate to leadership.
Provide leadership by example in corporate safety, quality, regulatory, product safety and sustainability.
Influence
This role will need to influence internally across all levels of the organization, manage a team, and drive collaboration across functions/departments. This position requires an individual with a passion for technology and product development, an ability to be consumer-centric, experience with innovation program leadership and the ability to lead people and build talent. It will also need to manage relationships with our Global partners (Brand Leaders, R&E technology enabling team, I&A, Supply Chain, Legal, Customer Teams, Product Safety, Quality, and Finance) and external collaborations and alliances.
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in a scientific, engineering and/or consumer product development discipline.
10+ years of experience developing and executing product development work in Research & Engineering.
Comfortable navigating through ambiguity, complexity and change. Equally comfortable to challenge the status quo in pursuit of better business outcomes.
Experience leading a cross discipline team.
Experience driving decision making and influencing at all levels within the organization.
Strong leadership experience coaching and developing team members for career development and performance improvement.
Experience leading and facilitating problem solving across teams to achieve desired results.
Preferred
Prior experience in developing adult and feminine hygiene products.
Knowledge of market research tools.
Knowledge of product development and prototyping.
Knowledge of Rapid learning cycles for development.
